Lies of P Review: Should You Buy It?

What is Lies of P?

Lies of P is a polished soulslike action RPG from South Korean studio NEOWIZ and developer Round8 Studio. It is a dark reimagining of Carlo Collodi's classic tale, Pinocchio.

You play as P, a mechanoid puppet awakening in the plague-ridden, Belle Époque-inspired city of Krat. Your quest is to find your creator, Geppetto, and uncover the truth behind a catastrophic puppet frenzy that decimated the city's human population.

The central narrative hook — the "Lies" of the title — weaves into both story and mechanics. Morally ambiguous choices can alter your character and the world's fate.

It is a strictly single-player experience focused on atmospheric exploration, punishing combat, and a melancholic story about humanity, truth, and what it means to become "real."

Gameplay

Gameplay is a tuned dance of steel and desperation. The core loop is familiar to genre veterans: explore interconnected districts, battle grotesque enemies, retrieve lost "Ergo" upon death, and conquer multi-phase boss encounters.

Lies of P carves its own identity through mechanical precision and several ingenious systems. Combat feels weighty and deliberate; every swing of your weapon carries tangible heft.

Core combat systems

• Perfect guard system: A parry requiring impeccable timing to negate damage and break enemy weapons, essential against later bosses.
• Weapon assembly: Mix and match blades and handles from a vast arsenal, altering move sets, scaling, and special "Fable Arts" abilities.
• Legion Arm: Your mechanical left arm can be fitted with gadgets like a grappling hook or flamethrower for tactical advantages.
• Lying system: Certain choices grant permanent stat boosts, subtly influencing gameplay.

The learning curve is steep. Early areas serve as a harsh but fair tutorial, teaching that aggression must be tempered with caution. Enemy placement is deliberately cruel, and bosses demand pattern recognition and patience.

There is no true multiplayer — no invasions or co-op. This focuses the experience entirely on your personal struggle against Krat's horrors.

Who is Lies of P for?

This is a game for the hardcore action RPG enthusiast who relishes a significant challenge and immersive, lonely world-building. It is a strictly solo endeavour.

The closest comparisons are FromSoftware's Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. From Bloodborne, it borrows the gothic, plague-ridden setting and aggressive but measured combat. From Sekiro, it adopts the emphasis on deflection and posture-breaking, though here it is an optional, high-skill tactic.

It is not a mere clone. Lies of P stands on its own with a more structured narrative and a unique setting. It is also for players who appreciate rich, environmental storytelling and a sombre, tragic narrative.

If you have bounced off soulslikes due to opaque mechanics or extreme difficulty, Lies of P is unlikely to convert you. This is a game that demands your time, focus, and resilience.

Graphics and performance

Lies of P is visually stunning. Its art direction blends the ornate architecture of a stylised early 20th century with grotesque, oil-dripping puppetry and Lovecraftian biological horrors.

The city of Krat is a character in itself — from rain-slicked, lantern-lit streets to claustrophobic, corpse-strewn interiors of grand hotels and factories. Enemy and boss design is consistently exceptional.

Technical performance

• PC options: A reliable suite of graphics options, supporting ultrawide monitors and technologies like DLSS and FSR.
• Stable framerates: Performance is consistently solid, even in chaotic battles, provided your hardware meets recommended specs.
• Console versions: PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X deliver a smooth, high-fidelity experience.
• Quick load times: Refreshingly fast after death — a crucial quality-of-life feature in a game where you will die frequently.
• Minor issues: Instances of texture pop-in in larger areas, but nothing that significantly mars the presentation.

Value for money

A single playthrough, including most optional areas and bosses, will take the average player between 35 to 45 hours. For a linear, narrative-driven soulslike, this is an exceptionally generous runtime.

The game is densely packed with secrets, hidden questlines, and unique weapons to discover. New Game+ is meaningfully implemented, introducing new enemy placements, upgraded gear (P-Organ enhancements), and additional narrative layers based on your "Lie" choices.

Given the level of polish and content depth, Lies of P represents outstanding value at its standard AAA price point. It is a complete, self-contained experience with no live-service trappings or mandatory grind.

The development team has also supported the game with substantial free post-launch updates, including additional weapons and quality-of-life features.

Bottom line: Lies of P is a complete, polished soulslike with 35-45 hours of content, a meaningful New Game+, and free post-launch support. Outstanding value at its price point.

Verdict

Lies of P is a triumph. It does not simply mimic its inspirations; it analyses, understands, and refines them into a cohesive and fiercely compelling experience.

The combat is deep and satisfying, the world is hauntingly beautiful, and the Pinocchio framing provides a uniquely poignant narrative backbone. Its difficulty is unapologetic, but its systems are fair and rewarding for those willing to learn.

Who will love it

• Soulslike veterans: You will love it if you crave precise, weighty combat.
• Story explorers: You will enjoy unravelling a tragic story through exploration.
• Boss hunters: You possess the tenacity to face down some of the most creatively designed bosses in recent memory.

Who might skip it

• Low frustration threshold: You dislike repeated failure.
• Open-world fans: You prefer open-ended exploration over curated level design.
• Co-op seekers: You want a light-hearted or cooperative gaming experience.

For NEOWIZ, Lies of P is more than a successful debut in the genre; it is a bold statement of intent and a new benchmark for soulslikes developed outside of FromSoftware. It is a dark, demanding, and utterly magnificent fairy tale.

The verdict: Lies of P is a dark, demanding, and magnificent fairy tale — a new benchmark for soulslikes outside of FromSoftware. Highly recommended to fans of challenging action RPGs.